Happy Birthday to Me!

Posted on December 19th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Relationships, Education, Personal, Politics, Feminism, Omnia Vanitas, Current Events, Money, Give, Random.

For my birthday, my boyfriend sent me the most wonderful gift I received this year. Instead of sending me the usual bouquet of flowers (a staple of the long distance relationship dance we’ve been doing for the last decade or so), Ed made a donation in my name through Changing the Present to educate Afghani girls. Not only did this thoughtful gift show an understanding of three of the causes most important to me — education, feminism, and the promotion of human rights on the global scale — it really made me feel loved. I wish I could have made the actual email card I received display properly, but during this busy season I simply don’t have the time to futz with the code. To find out more about how you can honor a loved one with a charitable gift, click the link above, or if you’re interested in the cause of educating Afghani girls, click the banner below. Trust me, it’s a gift that will keep on giving!

ChangingThePresent

Problem

Under the Taliban, education was prohibited for girls. Now, the hard-won right of simply attending school in Afghanistan for girls is becoming more and more difficult. Experts estimate that every day in Afghanistan a girls’ school is destroyed or a teacher is murdered. Attacks have closed schools in several entire districts in Afghanistan — nearly one-third of all districts have no schools.

The Gift

We cannot allow the destruction of women and girls’ education to continue, with education so crucial to long-term empowerment. The Feminist Majority Foundation is working to keep Afghan girls’ schools open, as well as to reopen those schools that have been closed. We must do all we can to ensure that the rights of Afghan women and girls do not slip away again.

Your donation of $60 will pay the salary of a teacher in Afghanistan for one month. Without teachers, who are being targeted by extremists in Afghanistan, the right for girls to go to school is meaningless.

3 comments.

I Heard a Rumor . . .

Posted on August 27th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Literary, Omnia Vanitas, Sponsored Posts, Random, Television.

While I won’t have cable this semester, it looks like I will have access to my favorite channel, the CW (it used to be the WB). They’re responsible for my two favorite shows of all-time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars, although both of those series have sadly ended, leaving a void of grief in my weekly TV schedule that no other show has been able to fill . . .

Apparently, though, the CW may be premiering a contender this fall. I’ve heard a lot about the Gossip Girl series of young adult books by Cecily Von Ziegesar, and now they’ve been transformed into a new teen drama of the same name. As a wannateach, I’m fascinated by books that portray the “real” issues that teens face — sex, drugs, peer pressure, and the host of other demons that keep parents awake at night — while avoiding the preachy-ness of the kinds of texts that are traditionally used to show kids the consequences of certain actions.

Anthropological interest aside, I’m hoping the show will have the sort of pull I felt towards Buffy and Veronica Mars. The characters are socialite-teens from New York’s fancy Upper East Side who attend private schools full of vicious rivalries that an anonymous (and seemingly omniscient) narrator called “GossipGirl” blogs about on her website. I’m thinking of my guilty pleasure, Cruel Intentions, and hoping the show crosses that setting/atmosphere with a smart, sassy heroine that doesn’t rely on sex appeal for power. Judging from the pictures on the Gossip Girl web site, they’re really banking on the attractiveness of their actors to get the initial viewers, a tactic which should be effective — they’re definitely look the part of “the beautiful people” they’re supposed to be playing. I’ve include one below, simply because I love the expression — it’s so 3:10. Of course, I was hooked when I heard that Kristen Bell, who played the eponymous star of Veronica Mars, will be voicing the part of Gossip Girl — I could listen to her witting her way through the instructions for setting a VCR, she’s that good. But I also have hope for the “outsider” characters that lack the social and financial assets of their peers — I’m thinking Brenda and Brandon without the annoying “we’re so Midwestern, ain’t it cute?” thing. Now I just have to wait until the premier on Wednesday, September 19th to see if this show can be crowned my new favorite . . . And apparently, I’m not alone, as shown by this lovely tribute to Gossip Girl on MySpace.

Blake Lively as Serena Van Der Woodsen

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Television Black Out :(

Posted on August 26th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Omnia Vanitas, Technology, Random, Television.

Well, I’m back in the dorm, and of course all is not as expected.  I thought I’d have free basic TV, but alas, the coaxial jack appears to be cable-only, and does not lead to a rooftop antennae as hoped.  For all I know, that’s not even a possibility, but it never hurts to fantasize, until you find out that the minimum cable package costs $50 a month, which is a little beyond my purse at the moment.  Luckily, I think I can wire something up to improve my in-room reception, and I’m looking into some computer-based solutions that might allow me to harness the power of my room’s high speed connection (limited as it may be) . . . Lord knows, I’m grateful for the DVR I have installed at my mum’s house, so at least I can have a catching up smörgåsbord of tube time when I head back south . . .

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Travel Insurance

Posted on July 5th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Personal, Omnia Vanitas, Current Events, Travel, Sponsored Posts, Money, Random.

Although my trip this week was canceled and I was able to recoup my expenditures on tickets and lodging arrangements, it reminded me that Travel Insurance is always a good idea. Especially now that I’m all flu-icky and wouldn’t get on a plane for $200 (although I’d probably do it for $300, depending on the eventual destination). I recently discovered TravelSafe, a family-owned and operated business that has been working hard to protect the traveler since 1971, through a recent press release. Apparently, TravelSafe offers an industry-first — a “Cancel For Any Reason” option — plus coverage for hurricane warnings and other inclement weather, worldwide medical protection and emergency medical evacuation, coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, trip cancellation/interruption, even the ever-present threat of terrorism. Before this weekend’s attack in Glasgow, on the very airport I’ve flown into dozens of times, I never considered visiting my family to be a risky prospect, even though I was in the air on 9/11. Travel seems to be an increasingly complicated undertaking — from fear to “mechanical difficulties” to acts of god — and so I think I will definitely be engaging the services of a travel insurance provider the next time I venture far from home.

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Speaking of a Bronte . . .

Posted on July 5th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Literary, Omnia Vanitas, Random.

Although I’ve done very little official study of the sisters Bronte, I do have a list of critical resources for them.  Probably my favorite is this one for Emily Bronte & Wuthering Heights.  Lots of good insights and a variety of critical approaches on what is probably my favorite ‘gothic’ novel.  I would love to teach this sometime, but I’m not sure if they still do it in high school.  I think there was one English class that covered it when I was student, and I took it off my boyfriend at the time and read it through in the course of a school day.  It’s one of those books that can change your soul if you pick it up at the right moment . . .

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